Neajunsurile cresterii economice

Tejvan Richard Pettinger a studiat Politica, Filosofia si Economia la universitatea din Oxford, in prezent predand economie la Cherwell College, Oxford. Pe saitul sau, Economics Help, Pettinger a postat la 26 martie 2007 un articol intitulat "Does Economics Growth Bring Increased Living Standards?", in care arata cateva dintre neajunsurile majore ale cresterii economice, explicand astfel de ce progresul economic si material nu a dus la cresterea fericirii populatiei din tarile bogate.Motivele sunt, in ordinea prezentata de autor:1.Satisfactia si rostul date de bogatie scad treptat

1. If a section of the population is living in absolute poverty, economic growth enables people to have higher incomes and therefore they will be able to afford the basic necessities of life such as; food, and shelter. When economic growth can overcome this type of poverty there is a clear link with improved living standards. However, when incomes increase from say $35,000 a year to $36,000 the improvement in living standards is harder to justify. Diminishing returns is a basic economic concept, which suggests the tenth unit of a good will give much less satisfaction than the first. If we already have 2 cars, does our living standards really improve if we now have the capacity to own 3 cars? Often as economic growth increases incomes, people increasingly save their money (higher marginal propensity to save) this is basically because they struggle to find anything meaningful to spend their money on."

Altfel spus, cresterea economica se justifica atunci cand ridica segmente importante din populatie deasupra pragului saraciei pana in punctul in care isi permit sa achizitioneze hrana si un adapost. mai departe insa, diferenta dintre a avea doua automobile sau trei este practic nula, astfel incat unii oameni cu bani ajung sa economiseasca bani din simplul motiv ca nu au pe ce sa-i mai cheltuiasca.

2. Externalitatile cresterii"Economic Growth with involves increased output causes external side effects, such, as increased pollution. Global warming from pollution is becoming a real problem for society. The economic and social costs could potentially be greater than all the perceived benefits of recent economic growth. However, it is worth noting that economic growth doesn’t necessarily have to cause pollution. The benefits of growth could be used to develop better technologies that create less pollution. It is just at the moment this has been a low priority."

Cresterea economica inseamna si poluare si risipa de resurse, astfel incat pe termen lung ea e probabil sa dea nastere unor probleme de mediu extrem de serioase. Pettinger se arata optimist in privinta gasirii unor posibile tehnologii care sa mentina ritmul crescut economic din anumite tari fara a dauna mediului, desi pe de alta parte recunoaste ca nu s-au facut deloc progrese in acest sens si o asemenea agenda ecologista ramane in continuare o prioritate scazuta.3. Saracia relativa"It is perhaps a paradox that higher economic growth can cause an increase in relative poverty. This is because those who benefit from growth are often the highly educated and those who own wealth. In 1980s and 1990s higher growth in the UK and US has resulted in increased inequality. However, it depends on how growth is managed; economic growth can be used to reduce inequality. This occurred in 50s and 60s."
Pettinger nu ocoleste nici problema cresterii inegalitatilor sociale, odata cu imbogatirea economica a unei societati. Se naste astfel saracia relativa, creata involuntar dar cu urmari reale in starea de bine a populatiei. Cei care au prosperat mai putin decat ceilalti se simt marginalizati, frustrati si saraci, chiar si daca nu e vorba de o saracie absoluta.

4. Cresterea infractionalitatii

"It is another paradox that as incomes increase and people are better off the level of crime has increased as well. This suggests that crime is not motivated by poverty but perhaps envy. One reason why crime rates increase is that quite simply there are more things to steal. Back in the 1930s auto theft, mobile phone theft e.t.c were rare or non-existent. Economic Growth has created more goods to steal. However the link isn’t absolute for example in recent years crime rates in US have reduced from their peak. But there has been a general association between growth and crimes."

Autorul argumenteaza ca progresul economic nu duce, asa cum ne-am astepta la o prima vedere, la o scadere a infractionalitatii, ci la o crestere a sa. Intr-adevar, cu cat apar mai multe bogatii materiale in societate, cu atat tentatia de a fura este mai mare. De fapt, chiar si daca per total numarul de infractiuni se mentine constant (in loc sa creasca) in ciuda cresterii economice, demonstreaza ineficienta acestei cresteri, printre care ar fi trebuit sa fie si scaderea criminalitatii.

5. Cresterea orelor de munca

"In the beginning of the industrial revolution, higher growth led to people working lower hours. However, in the past couple of decades higher incomes have actually led to people working longer hours. It seems people are unable to enjoy their higher incomes. Feeling the necessity or preferring to work longer hours. This suggest people are valuing earning money more than leisure. However, this trend may also be due to companies wanting people to work longer hours."

Deci desi suntem mai bogati, muncim mai mult, ceea ce inseamna ca progresul economic este insotit de deteriorarea vietii personale si a timpului nostru liber.

7. Bolile bogatiei

"Economic Growth has enabled improved health care treatments, but at the same time there has been an unexpected rise in the number of diseases and illnesses related to increased prosperity. One example is obesity. Modern lifestyles and modern diets have created an epidemic of obesity, with significant proportions of the population expressing a desire to lose weight. It could be argued that problems such as obesity and stress related illnesses are not a direct consequence of growth. This is true, but, it is symbolic of the fact increased prosperity has created as many new problems as it has solved."

Dupa cum bine puncteaza autorul, cresterea economica a rezolvat atatea probleme de sanatate ale populatiei pe cat a creat, ceea ce per total, nu e un motiv de a o continua.
E bine de avut in vedere aceste scurte argumente impotriva cresterii expuse de Pettinger atunci cand le raspundem adeptilor progresului economic si opozantilor filosofiei anti-materialiste si a timpului liber promovate de downshifting.

Doua studii recente despre inegalitatile economice si adaptarea la venitul ridicat

Studiul numarul 1

Primul studiu prezentat aici, aparut la 17 noiembrie 2008, ii apartine doctorandului Jean-Benoit Gregoire Rousseau si este intitulat `Happiness and Income Inequality`. Principalele sale teze sunt urmatoarele trei:

1. incepand cu 1975, in SUA principalele castiguri materiale au fost acaparate de cei mai bogati 20% dintre locuitori, inegalitatile socio-economice adancindu-se intre cei mai bogati si restul societatii.

2. in ,,Capitala capitalului", fericirea bogatasilor a stagnat in acelasi interval de timp (in ciuda imbogatirii lor consistente), pe cand cea a restului societatii a scazut.

3. 10 ore de timp liber echivaleaza in domeniul bunastarii cu o crestere de peste 6% a veniturilor materiale.In cuvintele autorului,"This paper shows that the lack of growth in average well-being, despite substantial GDP per capita growth, in the US is not a paradox. It can be explained by changes in the income distribution and the concavity of the happiness function.

Since 1975 in the United-States practically all of the income gains that have accrued to households have gone to the richest 20%; income inequality has increased signi cantly over that period.A similar pattern can be observed in subjective well-being measures: the happiness gap between the rich and the poor has widened over the last decades. Happiness has stagnated for the rich and fallen for the poor. Formal analysis suggests that the happiness function can be approximated by a log-linear relationship and con rms that there is no satiation in the functions